Hockey Canada continues to be the world leader in the development and implementation of Development Programs for young hockey players of all ages. It is important to for Minor Hockey Associations and Minor Hockey Coaches to pay close attention to what is being taught to young players as the progress through their minor hockey careers.

The following is a guide to what young players should be doing as they progress through their minor hockey days.

Advanced development should be built on practicing individual technical skills 35% of total practice time

LONG TERM PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

What is Long Term Player Development (LTPD)?

Simply put a Long Term Player Development model (LTPDM) is a framework to maximize a player’s potential and long term involvement in sport over the course of their life. This document sets out a vision for hockey in Canada that takes advantage of the history and culture of the game to increase participation and to lay the foundations of international success long into the future.

This model for hockey has been developed based on the following principles:

• Doing the right thing for the player at the right stage in their development

• Adopting a player-centred approach and not treating the development of all players the same way.

• The broader the foundation of players the more successful the game of hockey will be in Canada

• Viewing player development as a long term process

• Aligning player development resources (skills manuals, DVD’s) with Coach development and education resources so that coaches are doing the right things at the right time.

• A need to better educate parents on the hockey development of their child. It is okay for parents to want their kids to get to the highest levels but they need to know the best way to go about it.

Hockey Canada’s mandate is to create a model that improves the quality of our sport inCanada and gives our athletes a high probability of achieving success in domestic and international competitions There is much that is good about hockey in Canada already. We have a history of success – but we need to continue to work to maintain success into the future.

The challenge is to build on this to develop a consistent approach to player development.

What we need to do to improve as a sport

• Focus on supporting the complete athlete not just the athlete training and competition. Recommend other sports, cross training methods to get away from hockey and avoid burn out

• Remove the focus of winning at all levels and age

• Remove geographic differences and develop a common directional, leadership and athlete development framework – consistent in the philosophy of player development

• Introduce athletic skills in a systematic and timely way

Currently, what are our biggest hurdles?

• Young players over compete – how can education and regulation improve this?

• Young players follow adult schedules and training practices – how do we modify the game to suit the needs of the athlete

• Young females follow programs designed for males

• The best coaches work at elite levels – how do we encourage the best teachers to work with the youth?

• The public does not understand the need for an integrated development modeland the principles of long term development